Ronnie gets huffy because I am trying to get some straight answers from him about what this money is for and where it will go. Then Ronnie foolishly says, “it doesn’t matter what I say. You are going to write what you want anyway.” Of course I agree. What I want to write is the truth of the matter. And if Commissioner Vice-Chairman Ronnie Whetstine refuses to tell me the truth, that is exactly what I will write. With 100% accuracy. At that Ronnie Whetstine huffs off across the street to talk to someone else, apparently hoping that they are not seeking the truth from him like I was. Of course my thoughts are, If the Commissioners, CCC, CCS, and others are doing something good and wonderful, why are they refusing to talk about it? Apparently knowing that whatever they tell me, I will check it out for the actual facts. It is called “Checks and Balances.”
The foundation of our country. Whether Ronnie Whetstine or CCC’s Dr. Jason Hurst likes it or not.
Then, later on I see CCS School Board member Danny Blanton and ask Blanton what he wants to do with the new tax money. Blanton was crystal clear. I don’t want any more money (for CCS) until we get the mess we got straightened out.” I knew exactly what he was talking about and got another reminder of that mess at the School Board meeting two days later. More on that later. Stay tuned.
Then, I made a walking tour around the Court Square, spiraling outward, block by block. My conclusion was, just like the report the Commissioners don’t want to admit, Cleveland County is a dying County and Shelby, as Cleveland County’s County Seat is a dying city. No matter how many free festivals are held in uptown Shelby financed by stolen tax dollars.
Oh Yes, stolen tax dollars by the $million funneled into the American Legion World Series by the Commissioners under the disguise of lies and deception. Never once recognizing, much less thanking, the taxpayer as the source of most of the money for ALWS. That too is an Eddie Holbrook shenanigan perpetuated by County Manager Brian Epley and the Commissioners. One piece of rock-solid evidence, a $275,000 chunk, is provided at the end of this article for those die-hard fools who refuse to believe or acknowledge that they have been had.
Back to my tour.
Vacant prime location buildings on DeKalb and other streets in the first block away from the Court Square. The buildings and industries along the railroad are closed and decrepit. The Old Rogers Theater appears to still be old, empty and shunned, likely due to who the owner is. Morgan street-shutdown buildings. Washington Street toward the Hospital, the same. It goes on and on. And those high dollar buildings, like the Bank of Ozarks, the so-called home town bank when the Ozarks are about 1,000 miles away. Everybody knows about the failure there of the original “home-town” bank. The Old Farmer’s Market still looks like the old Farmer’s Market since it was the scene of the Rick Howell orchestrated deal several years ago where the City of Shelby lost it to foreclosure. Don’t know about the inside now as that was the scene of luxury condo renovation. The Shelby Police Building looks good though. At Shelby taxpayer expense. The nice court square buildings, once decrepit due to owner negligence, now look good after round after round of grants to fix the building were obtained to pay for the upkeep the owners wouldn’t pay for. Even the Old Courthouse, now the Earl Scruggs Center can’t pay their bills without large infusions every year of taxpayer dollars. All this info is from memory as I didn’t take any notes.
So, is that where the new sales tax increase will go? To fix up Shelby real estate to the profit of rich owners who won’t pay to keep their property up. One family comes to mind. The family who almost put the peanut business in bankruptcy when they refused to maintain their out of town peanut plant in sanitary conditions. And all the rest of Cleveland County gets nothing to show for from this tax increase. If history is a guide, that will be how it goes.
Folks, that is about it for this article. I don’t get to downtown Shelby very often as I don’t, as many don’t, have much business to do there. Even the Shelby Shag Club couldn’t find a place to have their dances in Shelby. They have their Dances in Kings Mountain. Is that prophetic or what? You make the call.
Oh, one more observation. Who paid for the 7th Inning Stretch big and expensive stage?? Is that another secret ALWS taxpayer fraud??? What about that Mr. Eddie Holbrook?